Adirondack Flames Are Sorry They Had Their New Mascot Kill A Firefighter

 

The Adirondack Flames, an AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, have a new mascot called Scorch. Here he is.

“”Doesn’t he just look adorable? Who wouldn’t love this little guy? As it turns out, many people. Many people have had just about enough of Scorch. You see, for reasons known only to the team’s public relations department, Scorch was given a sordid back story and posed for pictures like this.

As soon as this photo appeared, the countdown clock to an apology started. It didn’t take long to reach zero.

“Earlier today we unveiled our new mascot Scorch.  In an attempt to provide background material for the character who will be the face of our team, particularly with young fans, we crafted a story that Scorch was the remaining ember from the tragic fire that destroyed much of Glens Falls in 1864.
We also crafted a skit that helped to launch the new mascot – with the help of the Glens Falls Fire Department.  While it seemed in good taste when it was on the drawing board, it is evident now that it was in poor taste.
On behalf of our entire organization we want to apologize for our thoughtlessness today.  We have obviously turned something good, the launch of a mascot which we will use to entertain and encourage young fans, into something that is in poor taste.  That was not our intention and again we apologize.
We would like to emphasize that we as an organization take seriously the dangers associated with fire, understand its potentially devastating effects and acknowledge that those in our nation who are called upon to face and fight fires on a daily basis are truly heroes.

A-plus apology. You can practically read the “What the hell were we thinking” bleeding between the lines. I like that they said the firefighter picture seemed like great work on the drawing board. As if they medium is somehow to blame.

Anyway, to sum up: fire is bad, firefighters are heroes, Glen Falls has been rebuilt and Scorch’s 15 minutes of fame didn’t come for the right reasons.

[H/T: Adirondack Flames, via Next Impulse]